Bushes by the Beach: Day Four
Daphne all ready to swim. Check out those chubby knees and thighs. Makes me want to go wake her up from her nap and squeeze them right this second!
Saturday morning dawned a bit overcast, unfortunate timing for our scheduled beach day, however Mr. Sun was kind enough to make a few appearances throughout the day. I don't think the kids would have cared if it had been twenty degrees cooler, they were all having such a blast regardless of the temperature!
That picture of Gideon on the shovel absolutely kills me! What a handsome, good-natured little dude. Also, April and Amy look so beautiful to me with their sweet babes in their arms.
Before heading to the beach in the morning, Cassie and Dan gave a wonderful devotional on maka-fekes (a Tongan lure for octopuses) and avoiding temptation. Just as we were finishing the devotional and Elijah was sharing some thoughts, Joey looked out the window and said something like, "Look! Dolphins!" Elijah, slightly annoyed at the interruption, started to brush off his comment saying it was just a surfer when he took a good look out at the ocean and said, "Holy cow! There really are dolphins out there!" The whole family jumped up to look out the windows and ran out to the deck to watch in disbelief as an entire pod of dolphins swam behind our beach house, only about 200 yards out in the ocean!
It was hard to get an exact count on the pod because they kept going under water and then a new group would pop up far away from the others, so either they were lightening fast or they were spread out over a couple hundred yards. I would guess there were about 10-15 of them all together. We all watched in amazement as they swam along the shore and then wondrously stopped directly in front of our beach house and proceeded to circle, splash and play there for about 10 minutes before turning and heading back where they came from. It was completely magical and we were all delighted by the experience.
My favorite part about this whole scene was when everyone initially jumped up to get a better look and my nephew Caleb (age 7) said reassuringly, "Don't worry everyone, I know their talk!" Later as we stood on the porch looking out at the dolphins, I praised Joey, telling him it was all thanks to him that we were seeing these beautiful creatures when Caleb chimed in, "Well I saw them an hour ago!" Haha! What a little character!
I absolutely love this picture of everyone staring out at the ocean, admiring our fishie friends.
After devotional, it was down to the beach where fun was everywhere; boogie boarding, skim boarding, surfing, sandcastle construction, wave chasing, and kite flying were all happening simultaneously by our Bush family hoard, totally dominating our stretch of the beach. :)
Unfortunately, a series of days with short naps, bad eating (Daph hates to eat when there are cousins to play with), plus late bedtimes had caught up with my Daphne girl and I ended up parked on a towel shielding her from the cold most of the afternoon while she watched her cousins, ate humus (thanks Kirbys!) and whined. Bummer.
Luckily Burke was able to get loads of ocean time and it was delightful to me to watch him so enthralled with every water sport he tried.
Isn't he attractive? :)
After a while, Daphne spotted her cousins flying the kites and finally ventured off my lap, firmly planting herself on a skim board next to Joshy for a better view where she stayed contentedly for a half an hour or more.
About that time, Daphne reached her limit, so Burke and I took her back to the beach house. We heard later that we missed an epic father/son relay race. Grandpa and all the dads each had a boy on their back and had to race down obstacles to the end of the beach and circle back. Apparently Karl was kicking everyone's bootays, but just as he neared the finish line he saw that Mom was going to accidentally trip him with the rope, so he got psyched out, ended up accidentally tripping himself and came crashing down, eating sand hard! Thankfully he and Giddy weren't hurt.
Meanwhile, Burke and I were about to shower off all the sand from our little family in the outdoor shower before taking Daphne in for a tubby and putting her to bed. Thoughtlessly, I had put Daphne down to go get some towels and as Burke coaxed her into the water, she slipped and banged the back of her head on the concrete. I was standing behind her as Burke scooped her up and put his hand to her head when suddenly blood was gushing out between his fingers from a wound on the back of her head. It was pretty scary for all of us. I almost scaled the sea wall to run down the beach and have Dr. Karl come assess if she needed stitches, but after calming me down, Burke advised that we wait a minute and sure enough the bleeding slowed as the wound began to clot. Poor baby, it was a rough way to end the afternoon.
That night all the kids were asleep, the adults had our traditional Talking Stick Ceremony where we each get a chance to share experiences, feelings and lessons learned. We were able to keep it under an hour (an amazing feat!) and it was a special experience as always.
After devotional, it was down to the beach where fun was everywhere; boogie boarding, skim boarding, surfing, sandcastle construction, wave chasing, and kite flying were all happening simultaneously by our Bush family hoard, totally dominating our stretch of the beach. :)
The Dynamic Duo - Lydia and Kaleolani are the absolute best of friends and were inseparable all week. In the left picture they are standing in the center of their sandcastle creation - a heart! Such precious little ladies!
Me loving on my fussy babe.
Luckily Burke was able to get loads of ocean time and it was delightful to me to watch him so enthralled with every water sport he tried.
Isn't he attractive? :)
After a while, Daphne spotted her cousins flying the kites and finally ventured off my lap, firmly planting herself on a skim board next to Joshy for a better view where she stayed contentedly for a half an hour or more.
Marinda and Elijah had planned a few creative beach Olympic competitions, including sweet beach-themed rubber duckies with each of our names written on the bottom that were utilized in the duck shot put and were even dumped into the ocean by Dan to race back to shore on the waves. Emmett was really adamant that his duckie not be in the race, afraid that the ocean would never spit his yellow friend up again, but by some error his duck made it into the bucket and ironically won! Too funny.
There was also a series of rope jumping, where the ropes would be moved farther and father apart with each round. Some of those Bush babies had crazy hops!
And some of them...did not. It's okay guys, we'll get 'em next time!
About that time, Daphne reached her limit, so Burke and I took her back to the beach house. We heard later that we missed an epic father/son relay race. Grandpa and all the dads each had a boy on their back and had to race down obstacles to the end of the beach and circle back. Apparently Karl was kicking everyone's bootays, but just as he neared the finish line he saw that Mom was going to accidentally trip him with the rope, so he got psyched out, ended up accidentally tripping himself and came crashing down, eating sand hard! Thankfully he and Giddy weren't hurt.
Meanwhile, Burke and I were about to shower off all the sand from our little family in the outdoor shower before taking Daphne in for a tubby and putting her to bed. Thoughtlessly, I had put Daphne down to go get some towels and as Burke coaxed her into the water, she slipped and banged the back of her head on the concrete. I was standing behind her as Burke scooped her up and put his hand to her head when suddenly blood was gushing out between his fingers from a wound on the back of her head. It was pretty scary for all of us. I almost scaled the sea wall to run down the beach and have Dr. Karl come assess if she needed stitches, but after calming me down, Burke advised that we wait a minute and sure enough the bleeding slowed as the wound began to clot. Poor baby, it was a rough way to end the afternoon.
That night all the kids were asleep, the adults had our traditional Talking Stick Ceremony where we each get a chance to share experiences, feelings and lessons learned. We were able to keep it under an hour (an amazing feat!) and it was a special experience as always.
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